topic Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems in ArcGIS Enterprise Questions

ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigAJohnson — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 12:49:22 GMT

I've been dealing with this problem for a while and have even asked questions on here about it but I have not found a solution yet.

I want to setup a multi-machine deployment on two virtual servers (Windows Server 2019);

Machine1 - Portal, ArcGIS Server, Data Store, Web Adaptor (I used Builder to install all software)

Machine2 - ArcGIS Server with Image Server license (just used ArcGIS Server installation software)

Everything loads fine, it's just when I load ArcGIS Server on Machine2 and it asks if I want to "Create a New Site" or "Join an Existing Site" I get the following error:

Failed to join the site 'https://MACHINE1:6443/arcgis/admin/'. Server machine 'https://MACHINE1:6443/arcgis/admin//machines/register' returned an error. 'Admin URL 'https://MACHINE2.GIS.COM:6443/arcgis/admin' is not reachable from 'MACHINE1.GIS.COM'.

I've done multiple installations (wipe the machine and start over) and always receive this error.

I've created Inbound and Outbound rules to open every port that ESRI recommends on both servers. I have a CA-Signed SSL certificate for both servers. Both servers have a Fully Qualified Doman Name. I can ping each server. I can view the default IIS webpage from each server. I'm using the same ESRI license files for each server. I'm using the same version of ArcGIS Server on each machine (10.8).

Basically, I've done everything I know to join Machine2 to the existing site on Machine1.

My question - is there anything else, no matter how trivial, that I should look at when setting up the servers. I feel it is a server issue that I'm overlooking, something very simple. For example, should I worry about the Host file??

Any information would be appreciated.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

George_Thompson — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 12:56:08 GMT

Adding better groups for visibility: ArcGIS Enterprise‌ Enterprise GIS‌

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

JoshuaBixby — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 15:14:34 GMT

Since you are running both an ArcGIS GIS Server and IIS Web Adaptor on the same machine, you have at least 2 different web servers running on the machine because ArcGIS GIS Server has its own embedded web server. Connecting to the default IIS web page doesn't ensure your connections to the embedded ArcGIS GIS Server are working correctly, and MACHINE2 is trying to register using the embedded web server on MACHINE1.

Regarding, "I have a CA-Signed SSL certificate for both servers." Did you bind the CA-Signed SSL certificate to the embedded web server, or is it only bound to the IIS web server?

On MACHINE2, open up a web browser and try connecting to https://MACHINE1.domain.com:6443/arcgis/admin, do you get any certificate or other errors?

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

BillFox — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 15:23:37 GMT

Hi Craig,

Did you verify folder/file share and security on config-store using same domain user account?

same verify for using the FQDN in that url? and all pieces of that SSL, is it a wildcard SSL?

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigRussell — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 07:59:08 GMT

Hi Craig

You'll need to go beyond the ping test to be 100% certain that the machines can talk to each other over the correct ports. To do this, complete the following test from each machine:

Open Windows PowerShell
Type Test-NetConnection -ComputerName <DESTINATION SERVER> -Port 6443
PowerShell will then provide a diagnostic report indicating success/failure of the test

When doing this test, try all combinations of IP addresses, machine names, and DNS aliases just to make sure there aren't any variations in terms of hostname resolution.

A few more things to look out for:

See Configure ArcGIS Server in advanced scenarios—ArcGIS Server | Documentation for ArcGIS Enterprise if either of the machines has multiple network interface controller (NIC) cards or DNS entries
If you've imported your CA-Signed certificate into Server, then try reverting back to the self-signed certificate and attempt to join the sites again
To completely rule out any config store access issues, you could do the following:
- Ensure that the config store is accessible as network share via UNC path
- Configure your initial ArcGIS Server site to use the UNC path instead of a mapped network drive
- Run the Configure ArcGIS Server Account utility and use a domain service account
- Use the same domain service account when installing ArcGIS Server on the second machine, ensuring that it can also access the network file share via UNC path

Hope this helps!

Craig

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigAJohnson — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 14:13:39 GMT

I ran the following test on machine name, IP, and DNS alias:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName <DESTINATION SERVER> -Port 6443

When I ran the test, machine name and IP succeeded but on the DNS alias it failed on TcpTestSucceeded came back as False. Is there something in Server Manager (maybe?) that I need to turn on to allow TCP for the DNS Alias?

I believe I have the shared folder and SSL configurations set correctly as per ESRI's recommendations.

Thanks for the help and information.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigRussell — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 01:39:58 GMT

Does the DNS alias resolve to the correct IP address if you run the command nslookup <DNS Alias> in PowerShell?

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigAJohnson — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 12:39:40 GMT

Yes, nslookup command does resolve the correct IP addresses for both machines.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigRussell — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 01:53:08 GMT

I think you need the assistance of a network analyst to determine why the network connection test fails for the alias but not the IP/machine name.

You could try following the directions to Configure ArcGIS Server in advanced scenarios—ArcGIS Server | Documentation for ArcGIS Enterprise to force ArcGIS Server to only use the machine name (which you know works over 6443) just to see if you can complete the configuration.

However, going back to your original post in this thread, I noticed the following:

I want to setup a multi-machine deployment on two virtual servers (Windows Server 2019);
Machine1 - Portal, ArcGIS Server, Data Store, Web Adaptor (I used Builder to install all software)
Machine2 - ArcGIS Server with Image Server license (just used ArcGIS Server installation software)

For an ArcGIS Server setup where you join two machines together to form a multi-machine site, both machines must be licensed for the same roles - i.e. Machine1 and Machine2 each need to have their own GIS Server and Image Server licenses.

If the idea behind your deployment is for Machine1 to only provide map services and for Machine2 to only provide image services, then you cannot (and don't have to) join Machine2 to Machine1. In this instance, you should create a new site on Machine2, then you can simply federate this server with Portal.

I don't think that this is the source of your issue with joining the sites, but even if you sort out this issue then you won't be able to join them if the licensing isn't correct.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

CraigAJohnson — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 12:37:25 GMT

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

JoshuaBixby — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 18:01:47 GMT

When you use the alias, are you using a fully-qualified alias or just the name? For example, alias.domain.com vs alias.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

AaronBooterbaugh — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:28:36 GMT

Craig touch on it where the first machine was set up using Enterprise Builder. The ArcServer on Machine one is a Hosted Server for the Data Store. You can not Join Machine 2 Arc Server to Machine 1 Arc Server because it is already a hosted server. The Arc Server on Machine 2 is an Image Server. You would not Join to an existing site but create a new one on machine 2. With that said you probably want to federate the machine 2 server to the Portal you have on machine 1. Once the Machine 2 server is all set up and working that is when you will federate the server to make it a part of the Portal.

Re: ArcGIS Enterprise Multi-machine Problems

JonathanQuinn — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 23:45:01 GMT

While the license issue would cause a failure, it'd be a different failure and one that would be explicit about the licenses needing to be the same.

In this case, I'd agree it appears to be a networking problem. What you could try to do rule out network related issues is define an entries in the etc\hosts file on each machine so you can control how they speak to one another. For example, machine1.domain.com has an IP of 10.0.0.1 and machine2.domain.com has an IP of 10.0.0.2. Within the etc\hosts file on each machine, add:

machine1.domain.com 10.0.0.1

machine2.domain.com 10.0.0.2

The software will look at the etc\hosts file first when performing hostname resolution. If that does work, then it may help prove it's something within DNS/your network.